European Commission Defense Program Offers Grants for Blockchain Solutions

The European Commission is calling for future-oriented defense solutions including innovative blockchain concepts.

A European Defense Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) tender, issued March 24, includes a 42-strong itemized list calling for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) to offer solutions that drive innovation and adapt technologies for civil and defense purposes.

The program will accept proposals relating to "infrastructure, based on real-time cloud and on-premise digital twin benefiting from blockchain technologies’ robustness."

A digital twin is a digital copy of a physical object, system or process. A digital blueprint of a car or bicycle would be its digital twin, for example.

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Having a digital twin on the blockchain allows companies to retain information about their products and verify the place of manufacture or records of prior ownership demonstrating a product's legitimacy.

The basis of the project would be to enhance current military logistical needs such as maintenance, supply chains and energy consumables.

Successful proposals will benefit from the 254 million euro budget (US$278 million) issued in the form of grants by the European Commission to continue developing and innovating on defense products or services.

The proposals are expected to cover studies or designs that would offer the ability to adapt technologies for defense, resulting in products that are cost-efficient and effective for military use.

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Proposals can be submitted from April 15, with the closing deadline listed as Dec. 1, 2020, but may be extended in case of issues resulting from the ongoing coronavirus crisis.